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Comment by frockington1 | Hacker News Reader

Could be a consequence of near 0 interest rates inflating assets. Thankfully the fed memo is that its transitory and nothing to worry about so the money press in still on

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I can understand the Fed not wanting to overreact. It has so much control over everything sometimes it's better not to swing.

It's always easy to wallow in apprehension when the status quo is politically convenient. The spectrum of forces, from home owners to bankers and everyone in between, is so vast that the only politically viable course is "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," and it will remain so until the bubble pops. Again.

I don't really think it's appropriate to accuse the Fed of "wallowing in apprehension". The Federal reserve is an incredibly powerful institution and missteps are extremely consequential.

> Could be

That's a gentle way of putting it.

Nothing to see here folks! Move along. /s

QE does not involve printing money. How does swapping bonds for reserves, i.e. monies of different durations, invoke a money press?

EDIT: I am also using 'printing money' in the figurative sense, I'm not making some obtuse point about actual notes being printed. I don't think QE is equivalent to figurative money printing, the money is not coming out of thin air.

'Increasing fictional numbers on a computer screen through political intent' is the modern equivalent. I think everyone understands that, at this point...

Yes, I'm well aware. How is exchanging bonds for reserves, both of which are money, equivalent to money printing (in the figurative sense, obviously)?

Look at the M2 money supply since 2020

Can you give a particular source? The definition of M2 used by the Fed was expanded in May 2020, so the reading of any charts must account for that.

I also think it's kind of irrelevant anyway. Drawing down the duration of money by QE will increase M2, that doesn't mean money is being created from thin air. Bonds are drawn out of the economy in exchange for increased reserves. What are bonds if not a form of money?

Bonds are debt, they are not money.

If I hold a bond from the US government, that is money with a non-zero duration.

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